how to quit describe-key function?

Question

I forgot what a key is bound to, so I decided to run

C-h k <my key binding>

But after pressing C-h k, I've remembered about that key binding and decided to quit. So I pressed C-g. Instead of quitting that command, describe-key described about C-g. I tried various other quit functions but they didn't work. I am wondering how to quit describe-key?

Answer 1

You cannot quit the describe-key command. The reason is simple: it cannot know whether you changed your mind about requiring a description of a key or whether you want a description of the key C-g. So it assumes it's the latter, because otherwise it would be impossible to get a description of that key.

You will just have to live with the *Help* buffer being displayed in some window. Usually you should be able to make the window/buffer go away by pressing C-x o and then q. Or you could just use C-h c (describe-key-briefly) instead. That doesn't create a window.